Chapter 3
3
CHERRY
“Am di habing a doke?”
Cherry immediately stuck out her tongue to the side of her mouth, not bothering to worry about if she looked like a fool – because she obviously had something wrong with her brain, her hearing, both , maybe something worse. Did he just say that he wanted to get married?
“You’re not having a stroke,” he smiled painfully. “I really need your help with Jeremy – and I have no one else to turn to.”
“We don’t know each other.”
“I can tell you are kind, and I am basically laying my life – and my son’s – on that fact,” Evan said hoarsely, his eyes searching his, and she could see that they were growing increasingly shiny. “I’m panicking because my sister is threatening to take custody of him for a number of reasons…”
“What?” she gasped, stunned.
“Debbie’s mad that our mom came to live here and help me out with Jeremy – and when she died, I paid for everything for her to be buried here instead of back home. I was trying to do the right thing, and she’s found a way to…” he swallowed, feeling sick to his stomach.
“Shhh. There’s no way that she’ll take your son from you,” Cherry said in a hushed voice. “You’re his dad and…”
“And I’m scheduled to deploy in a few days for six months – with no one to care for my son. Debbie is my only living family member. She knows it, and that is her ace in the hole. My only other option is to leave the Navy, give up my career, move, and uproot Jeremy from everything he’s ever known.”
“What a royal…” Cherry muttered and hesitated, keeping from saying her thoughts aloud fully as Evan chuckled wearily, wiping his eyes and sniffing.
“I’m sorry. I’m not normally this unsettled, but my sister has always known how to get under my skin, and Jeremy is my Achille’s Heel.”
“As it should be,” Cherry whispered in disbelief. “And the Navy won’t work with you on this?”
“They will,” he began. “They are honestly pretty great – but delaying a deployment won’t change anything. I’m bound by my contract, but they will let me out of my contract if necessary, with a hardship discharge.”
“Which means you’d leave,” she repeated, understanding now what he was getting at. “And if you are married, then you have someone who is family, who can watch your son. Is that what you are alluding to?”
“Yes.”
“I don’t want to cause more problems for you,” Cherry said quietly. “I mean, if your sister is that driven, won’t Debbie be a problem when she finds out about me?”
“Possibly, but we can delay it and drag it through the court system. By then, I should be back from deployment. I just need someone to care for Jeremy while I’m gone. This will be my third deployment from Mayport. The first was when Kristie left Jeremy with me, and the last time Jeremy was two years old. My mother stayed with him here.”
“Is this why you stood up for me at the restaurant?” she said quietly, swallowing. A part of her wished that it was some mysterious prince charming swooping in to save the day – but this was more along her style. Handsome guy backed into a corner and beyond desperate wants her to marry him to save his butt and pick up after his child.
“I stood up because no one deserves to be treated like that,” he admitted. “I don’t know you, but I do know how to be a decent person… and I would be, Cherry.”
“What are we talking about – if – this happened? Are we talking about babysitting him after school? Wait, is he in school? I know nothing about children or…” the words died on her lips as he moved and took both of her hands into his, looking into her eyes.
“If you do this,” Evan began quietly. “If you take care of my son while I’m gone, like he was your own, I promise you will never want for anything while you are helping me out. You don’t even have to work, Cherry. You’ll have my car while I’m gone, access to my checking account, free housing, and I hope that we can become friends during those six months.”
She stared up at him, reeling. He was offering her everything he had to make sure his son was cared for by someone, and she realized that he really was desperate. She could have been anyone, and he was trusting her to be an honest person. If someone crooked took up the mantle, that sweet kid who loved Transformers so much could end up abandoned and alone… and at the same time, that person could rob Evan blind.
“If this was roulette…”
“I’m all in,” he whispered openly. “I have nothing left but what’s in my hand. This is me, putting it all on a number, spinning the wheel, and praying like I’ve never prayed before. I’m terrified, but I’m putting my faith in God and the hopes that you are a half-decent human being who has a heart.”
“What happens after the deployment?” she breathed hoarsely, and the question hung in the air between them. He didn’t move an inch, and she saw his Adam’s apple bob precariously on his throat before he spoke again.
“That is up to you,” he admitted. “You are welcome to stay. We could continue as friends and get to know each other, or I will grant you a divorce and pay you spousal support for a year until you get settled somewhere. I would be forever grateful for your help and will do the right thing by my wife or ex-wife – I swear it.”
“And during the six-month deployment?”
“I would need you to enroll Jeremy in school, take him for a checkup if needed, be his friend and caregiver…”
“No,” she interrupted softly. “Will we try to become friends? Can we talk occasionally on the phone or write letters? I mean, if we do this, I’m really going to have questions, and it would help to have access to you sometimes.”
“I would love for us to have an open communication,” Evan said hoarsely. “It would mean the world to me not to feel cut off from everything. Sometimes, I get reception and can text, but in most cases, I have to wait until we are in port or close enough to land. I will have email, though.”
“I don’t have a computer…”
“But I do,” he said, interrupting her gently. “And you would live here.”
“How fast are we talking about this all happening?”
She watched him draw in his breath, almost as if he was steadying himself before he answered. That wasn’t a good sign. This was already crazy; was he about to drop another bombshell on her?
“I leave Wednesday.”
Cherry’s mouth dropped open in shock as she heard in her head the sound of that proverbial ‘bomb’ headed her way…
“THIS WEDNESDAY?” she gaped in shock. “As in two days from now?”
“Yes.”
“Holy cannoli…” she gaped and stared at him. “You realize that if we did this, if we went through with this, then I need to get all my stuff tomorrow. We would be getting married tomorrow and say ‘goodbye’ within a span of less than forty-eight hours .”
“Yeah,” he gave a nervous chuckle. “It’s a tall order.”
“Super-size that order, mister,” she retorted in stunned disbelief. “I don’t even know your last name.”
“Buchannan.”
“How are we ever going to do this?”
“I’ll need a miracle. People will question why we’ve not been together before now. If you tell them about this, I can get in trouble with the military. Tell them that we’ve been talking but kept this quiet until things were serious, and I was ready for you to meet my son.”
“I see.”
She stood there quietly, looking at their hands and trying to slow her heartbeat and excitement. He was utterly gorgeous and while it would be no hard thing to date someone like him, being a mom was entirely different. Evan wouldn’t be here; she would be mom-material for six months, and then it was a coin toss.
“What did Jeremy say to this idea?”
“I’ll be honest – I haven’t told him. I’ve been trying to figure things out, keep positive, and search for a solution. It’s going to break my heart to tell him that I have to leave for six months anyhow because he won’t understand.”
“No, I can imagine that conversation with your son wouldn’t go well,” she whispered, her mind racing. Immediately, she knew there would be a lot of painful crying, weeping, and questions from a very inquisitive boy. A boy he was talking about thrusting directly into her lap.
“Does this mean that you’ll marry me for Jeremy’s sake?”
Not for his sake— Jeremy’s.
He was doing all of this to protect his son, and that had to say something for Evan’s character. When had anyone ever stood up for her before? She had taken off at eighteen, and it had been heartbreaking to have the door slammed behind her. Looking back, she realized just how na?ve a fool she’d been – and there had been so many painful life lessons. She had rolled pennies for gas, had slept in her car, figured out how to float a check two days before payday— things she shouldn’t have had to learn.
And this man was willing to trust her with everything to protect his child, his most treasured asset. This is what parenting should have been , she thought morosely, thinking of her own childhood. Someone should have held her hand or been there to help her get through the rough spots as she took off from the nest.
Cherry swallowed at the comparison.
Jeremy being left with someone else, was like a fragile baby bird that had just hatched. Helpless, innocent, so vulnerable, and yet Evan was being told to evacuate the nest, leaving his precious hatchling behind – or another bird would take him away. He loved his nest, his baby bird, and was desperately searching for another bird to keep his young one safe and warm.
That thought alone made her eyes sting as she turned to look down the hallway at the bedroom door where Jeremy was sleeping. There were Spiderman stickers on the door, a few crayon marks, and a door hanger of an Autobot symbol because of his love of Transformers.
Jeremy was a good kid – and Evan seemed like a decent man. Neither deserved this, and she was a good person. She could no longer abandon a kitten to fend for itself, much less a child or another being.
“Yes,” Cherry replied, looking up at him. “I’ll marry you, and we’ll figure this out – but I’m going to ask a favor in return.”
“What’s that?”
“I’m going to try to be what you need for six months and take care of Jeremy, but when you come back?” she hesitated and swallowed nervously. “When you come back, before we make any permanent decisions, I want you to take me on a date.”
“That’s it?”
“I want us both to actually try to make this work and figure it out because that little boy will have memories of me being in his life, and I don’t want things to go south.”
“Cherry, I would truly enjoy us going on a date or two when I return,” he replied openly. “I’m glad you requested that we talk and communicate because I’m hoping that we will truly become the best of friends.”
“Me too,” she whispered under her breath. “But I need to get home and gather my things. I need to tell my roommate that I’m moving out due to an emergency, and boy, she is going to be mad.”
“I’m sorry.”
“It’s not your fault – you are just kinda stuck.”
“I really appreciate you helping me get un-stuck,” he smiled gently at her. “Let me see if I can get a neighbor to come over and sit with Jeremy so I can drive you back to your car.”
“It’s late,” she replied. “I can get an Uber to my car.”
“You could stay here,” he invited. “I know I’m a stranger, but you would be safe. I promise. You can sleep in my room or Jeremy’s room – and I can take the couch.”
“This is your house…”
“And you’re going to be my wife in less than twelve hours, remember?”
They looked at each other in awareness. Neither spoke but just kind of awkwardly remained there, almost like they were waiting for the other to speak first. He was right – they would be married in less than twelve hours, but it would be a marriage in name only. All of this was such a massive wallop to her reality that she was still processing.
Marriage…
Stepmom…
Evan and Jeremy, she thought wildly. I never imagined any of this when I went in to work this morning. Alone for six months – but with a roof over her head and anything she could ask for. What exactly did that mean?
“I suppose you are right,” she breathed as he sagged in relief. Obviously, he was concerned she was going to change her mind or that he would never see her again. He didn’t want her out of his sight, and she understood. If the roles were reversed, she would be on him like a tick in the summertime.
“I’ll grab a pillow so I can sleep on the couch.”
Twenty minutes later, Cherry was lying in a T-shirt she borrowed from Evan and some running shorts that barely fit over her rump. She was anxious, uncomfortable, and felt extremely weirded out by this whole thing. A perfect stranger was sleeping in the other room, and she was thinking of marrying him?
She had locked the bedroom door, put her shoes, the hamper, and anything she could move silently against it because what if someone came in while she was sleeping? It was nerve-racking, but then, again, another part of her seemed to buy his story and she knew it. If she didn’t, she would have left a while ago.
And heard a faint knock at the door.
Sucking in her breath, her heart slammed against her rib cage at the sound because why was he coming to knock on the door? Had he tried the handle? Was he some wacko trying to start some funny business?
“H-Hello?” she hissed nervously, knowing there was no way out of this or to hide. Instead, she slipped from the bed and grabbed her shoe, hiding it behind her back. “Hello?”
“It’s Evan,” he murmured quietly. “I’m sorry. You are probably tired, but…”
His voice trailed off – and she fell for it – hook, line, and sinker. Opening the door with her tennis shoe clenched in her hand, her heart was fluttering in a panicked fury in her chest, whereas the adrenaline racing in her veins said, ‘Oh yeah, whup this dude within an inch of his life with your Reeboks if he pulls any funny stuff… I gotcha, bruh. ’
She took one look at him and saw his nervous expression that was so far from the cool and collected man at the restaurant earlier in the day – that she hesitated.
“What’s wrong?” she whispered in a hushed voice.
“I wanted to tell you, ‘Thank you’ once again,” he began, and his voice cracked as he looked at her. “I don’t know if you’ll ever know how big of a deal this is to me, but I owe you everything – and I just needed to say it again.”
“Oh,” she faltered, hesitating and feeling guilty about the Reebok in her hand. “It’s fine. We’ll work together on this and figure it out along the way.”
“You haven't changed your mind?” he asked nervously.
“Should I?”
“Oh, please, no,” he choked out, giving her a wan smile. “I’m likely to have an ulcer by morning as it is. I kept lying there, worrying, and…”
“Evan,” she interrupted softly, realizing she had been doing the exact same thing. “We’re adults, and we can figure this out for Jeremy’s sake. I can use a little help getting ahead, and not paying rent for six months will be a relief. Relax and try to get some rest.”
“Will do,” he replied. “Sweet dreams, Cherry.”
“Good night, Evan.”